Temporal and spatial correlation analysis of ecosystem service value and human activity intensity in Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan urban agglomeration

Clarifying the impact mechanism of human activities on ecosystem services can provide a scientific basis for regional high-quality development and sustainable planning.

Taking the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan urban agglomeration as the research object, based on the 1 km grid, the author made use of multi-source data such as land use, social economy and meteorology in 2000, 2010 and 2020 to calculate the intensity of human activities and the value of ecosystem services, and analyzed the spatio-temporal evolution characteristics and spatial correlation of the two. The parameter-optimal geodetector and geographically weighted regression were used to analyze the impact intensity and spatial differentiation law of human activity intensity on the value of ecosystem services.

1) The value of ecosystem services showed a downward trend and presented a spatial distribution pattern where the values were higher in the surrounding areas and lower in the central area on the spatial scale; 2) The intensity of human activities continued to rise, showing the spatial evolution characteristics of a circular layer that decreased outward with the main urban area as the center; 3) There was a significant negative spatial correlation between the value of ecosystem services and the intensity of human activities, which was manifested as high intensity of human activities and low value of ecosystem services in the central region, while in the peripheral mountainous areas, it was the opposite distribution; 4) The influence degree of human activities factors on the spatial pattern of the value of ecosystem services was far greater than that of natural factors. The areas with high value of ecosystem services were more sensitive to the intensity of human activities, while the areas with low value of ecosystem services were less sensitive to the intensity of human activities.

Based on the spatial heterogeneity of human activity intensity and the value of ecosystem services as well as their interaction, it is necessary to formulate differentiated ecological protection strategies for the central urban area and the peripheral mountainous areas to control the interference and damage caused by human activities to the ecosystem. Meanwhile, human and natural factors jointly affect the structure and function of the ecosystem. It is particularly important to comprehensively understand the driving factors of the value of ecosystem services for the protection and restoration of the ecosystem.